1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates in general to the field of data processing systems, and in particular to a method and system for accessing data within a computer application program. Still more particularly, the present invention relates to a method and system for accessing visually obscured data within a computer application displayed concurrently with a video image within a window which partially overlaps data within the computer application.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A relatively recent advance in the computer arts allows a user to view a video image on a computer display. The video image can be, for example, broadcast television or video input from a video cassette recorder. Typically, an external converter unit or a video card is utilized to allow receipt and display of the video image.
The video is controlled by the user by programming various components of the video with the computer. These components include the color and tint of the image, the size of the screen, and the volume of the sound. Additionally, if the computer has multi-tasking capabilities, the video image can be operating simultaneously with a computer application program. For example, the display screen of the computer may be displaying computer graphics while the video image is running in the background. By entering a command, the computer graphics and the video image switch places, so that the video image is displayed on the screen with the computer graphics running in the background.
Problems arise, however, for a user working with this system. If the user is working with a computer application which requires input from the user at various times of operation, the user is forced to repeatedly switch between the two screens. Repeatedly switching between two screens is very inefficient and bothersome.
A more desirable option is to have the video image and the computer graphics simultaneously displayed on a single display. The computer graphics and video image are displayed concurrently, with the video image displayed in a window which partially overlaps the computer graphics display. In this manner, a user can be working on a computer application and watch a video program at the same time.
If a user has a system which allows him to view both concurrently, however, data within the computer application may be visually obscured by the video image within the window. This forces the user to close the window displaying the video image before the user can access the data obscured by the window. Closing the window every time data is obscured in order to access that data is also very inefficient and bothersome.
Therefore, it would be desirable to provide a method and system for accessing visually obscured data in a data processing system having a computer application displayed concurrently with a video image in a window which partially overlaps the computer application.